On Bvlgari’s timely jewels

Bvlgari premiered its latest haute horlogerie collections at the fourth edition of LVMH Watch Week, which was held in Singapore from January 10 to January 12, 2023. New timepieces unveiled by the marque include the Bvlgari Bvlgari X Lisa Limited Edition, multiple editions of Divas’ Dream, Serpenti, and the Octo Finissimo Ultra 10th Anniversary. Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Product Creation Executive Director of Bvlgari, talks to us about the collection

Can you tell us first about Bvlgari’s collaboration with artist Lisa?

We started to work with Lisa as a Brand Ambassador, and then we decided to use this collaboration to do something that we cannot do alone. We started with a few crazy ideas; Bvlgari Bvlgari is a very interesting watch, and our most iconic one. When I joined the company in 2001, we had to redesign Bvlgari Bvlgari. In my career here,  I have redesigned the watch 3 or 4 times. One was with a new case, another with a bigger size, one with a new bracelet, and this is the latest one. Though we have brought out various iterations, it is now time for us to go back to our roots and, Gerald Genta’s Bvlgari Bvlgari design is the best. I wanted to have the same bracelet or something similar to that, the same sharp case, and we started on this product. It has been a huge success and has completely changed the positioning of the watch.

We are always interested in having something cool, because the watch as you can see is very modern. The idea of working with Lisa came about in a meeting when we were talking about tapping the mood of the younger generation that talks about music in a different manner, from a different side of the world, which could be interesting. We started to work on this project; the dial is unique, bringing together different colours, with colours changing with the light. Even though there is a lot of colour, it is not too loud. It is also interesting because it is reflective of today’s generation, which does not focus on just one thing, and has a totally different approach. The idea of having a rainbow kind of dial that changed colour in a very subtle way is a very small touch that gives us the opportunity to talk about and see the watch in a totally different manner.

Year by year, Bvlgari has brought out more editions of Divas’ Dream and it is becoming iconic; are you surprised by the success of that line?

No, it was something that we planned for, right from the beginning. Divas’ Dream is the perfect blend between a round-shaped watch and a jewellery watch, in a different execution. We are very happy with the success of the minute repeater for instance. This watch is amazing and my favourite because I love this bracelet. Creating this bracelet was one of the biggest challenges because we are bringing this out after 4 or 5 years of the leather strap. The bracelet is fantastic because it is a Diva pattern but super-smooth on the wrist. Honestly, this is a true piece of jewellery; I love the bracelet because it talks the same language of the watch and is even an improvement as it is easy to wear.

It is a round-shaped watch with a gold bracelet, where you can play with stones and with leather straps. The dial was a nightmare because after the baguette version we did last year, to change it again to a brand-new dial, we had to find again the setting, the small stones, the brilliant carats, with so many varied shades. We had to work months and months, just to find the right stones and then make trial runs with single petals, where we were not able to see the final prototype. At the end, we were just seeing portions of the dial and giving the go-ahead.

Sourcing these kinds of stones even today is a nightmare; fortunately, we have our gemmological office, and they know the world of gemstones, the suppliers who know how picky we are about colours, and yet, it was a very long process. Just to change the dial took us one year.

How has the feedback been from the end-consumers for Divas’ Dream, which is a perfect marriage of colour and design?

They are very happy about both the watches; the cocktail watch is a very colourful with petals that are not rigidly fixed on the case. We have different kind of clients for both watches; they love round-shaped watches, the attention for the details, and the savoir faire behind them. For one, we have younger clients but for the other, it is not based on age but is for people who have a completely different kind of style.

The Serpenti watch has had so many different iterations that have almost covered every aspect; where do you see the Serpenti going forward?

If you compare the Serpenti that we have debuted this year with the Piccolissimo that we brought out last year, you would notice that we are completely re-designing the Serpenti story. The Serpenti with the Piccolissimo is something we started a few years ago, as we love to have a mechanical movement in a jewellery watch. The Serpenti Tubogas Infinity looks like a Tubogas but is actually a totally different construction.

It is no longer a Tubogas; we still have the spring inside the links, but this time, each link is different. The neck is very wide, the tail is very narrow, so we had to produce a lot of different-sized links. Because of this, we are able to use diamonds as the construction means that now we have enough thickness for diamonds. That was the biggest constraint for the Bvlgari Bvlgari Tubogas – the fact that we could not use diamonds. It had just two elements, the gold, and the spring; that is why we are very happy about using diamonds – it makes a huge difference, and we have a jewellery watch with a  Tubogas aesthetic.

What difficulties did you face in the execution of the Octo Finissimo Ultra?

For the Octo Finissimo Ultra, we used the same process as for a concept watch. We have now already delivered the first 10 pieces to the final clients, and we have bookings for the next few years. Though we used the same process as for a concept watch, in the end, it is a watch for every day; one that you can buy and use unlike the concept watch that is only used to showcase our capabilities. But we are able to produce only 10 pieces a year and not more than that.

Which is a good number, indeed.

Yes, it is a good number, and we are very happy with the results as we sold out immediately and have secured orders that we will fulfil over the next 5 years.